


Two Simple Letters

by mariuspondmercy



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-07 00:59:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14659920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariuspondmercy/pseuds/mariuspondmercy
Summary: It wasn't that Courfeyrac hated his soulmate tattoo but having "hi" on his arm and finding his soulmate after those first words was probably as successful as having "welcome to Starbucks, what can I get you?" tattooed.





	Two Simple Letters

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so glad it's Courfius Week again! Please enjoy :)

The matter of soulmates was a quite peculiar matter. Was it peculiar due to its uncertainty? Or rather because of its unfortunate uselessness?

The romantic people thrived off finding their soulmate; there were even entire websites dedicated to matching potential partners. But didn’t that defeat the entire purpose? How would that even work? You would always need to lead with something that could be either a response or a lead to what was tattooed on your arm. It was a rigged system, especially when people’s tattoos were visible in the photo.

Some people were incredibly unfortunate, having an often-uttered _Hi, can I help you?_ or a generic _You too_ on their body. Some tattoos were ridiculously outlandish. It would be quite possible to sport _A tap dancing mango_ on your body or _BuzzFeed Unsolved is created by demons themselves to lure victims into their demon dens_.

All fine and dandy - if it weren’t for the second tattoo.

Sometimes, it was impossible to tell which tattoo was a soulmate’s first and which their last words. Sometimes, it was fairly easy. Love declarations usually amounted to last words, as were specific statements such as _Okay, see you soon_.

Fèlix de Courfeyrac was in the very unfortunate position to have _Hi_ as both his tattoos. Now, this could mean one of two things. First, that the first time his soulmate talked to him was the last time as well. Not unthinkable with such a generic tattoo. Many people have said the word to him and many more would (his soulmate hopefully had one of those ridiculously outlandish tattoos but sometimes Courfeyrac only answered in kind because he was tired or not paying enough attention). So maybe neither would realise they were soulmates, meaning they’d just part ways without ever finding out, wondering why they never had the luck to meet their perfect puzzle piece. Second, his soulmate was a sap who repeated the first words back to him in their moment of death.

Option two sounded better, if not ideal. Ideal would be for his soulmate to never die. And Courfeyrac himself to never die, of course. Otherwise his soulmate would be stuck in eternity with a broken heart. Courfeyrac wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

Anyways, back on track: Courfeyrac’s soulmate tattoos were utterly useless and he’d given up on the silly wish to ever meet his soulmate. At least he didn’t complain about it anymore like he used to. Well. Not as much. It still came out when he was drunk, though. 

“Why won’t anyone ever love me?” Courfeyrac moaned, downing his fourth shot of the night. 

“People do love you,” Enjolras smiled. “I do and Grantaire does and Combeferre does.” 

“But you don’t fuck me.” 

“I’m quite sure my boyfriend would be down for that if you asked.”

“Ew no, that’s just awkward. Grantaire is a beautiful man but… no.”

“There’s also a difference between being loved and being fucked.” Enjolras squeezed his hand softly. “What brought this all on?”

“I just witnessed two soulmates find each other at the bar…”

“I understand. Would you rather go home and snuggle than drink yourself silly?”

“I should, shouldn’t I? I know I’m being silly and dramatic.” Courfeyrac sighed and let his head drop onto the table. “It’s sticky…”

Enjolras laughed and gently ran his fingers through his friend’s curls. “Let’s go.” 

“I gotta pee first.” Courfeyrac lifted his head and got up. “And maybe I need to wash my face…”

“You go ahead and do that. I’ll wait outside?”

Courfeyrac nodded softly and made his way through the crowd towards the restrooms. It had been kind of Enjolras to join his pity party, especially given that Enjolras wasn’t all too keen on pubs. Especially not when he was there only to watch his best friend get drunk. Courfeyrac was gonna buy him a big coffee tomorrow - after he’d slept off his hangover. 

He washed his face quickly as well as his hands because… well, who went to the restroom without washing hands before and after? Luckily, everything was empty, so he chose the second stall - according to Joly, it was the stall with the least bacteria because it was the least frequented one. Just as Courfeyrac closed the door behind him, another patron entered. He heard them shuffle around for a bit before they entered the stall next to Courfeyrac. It was quiet for a second before:

“Hi,” said the voice from one over. 

Courfeyrac was quite too stunned to answer, so he settled on a hesitant “hi.”

“I’m sorry to bother but do you happen to have some hand sanitizer?” 

“Uhm… no, I’m sorry,” Courfeyrac told the other person. 

“That’s alright, thank you. Uhm… do you maybe have toilet paper?” 

“Yeah… I… I’ll pass it to you when I’ve washed my hands?” 

“Thank you, I’m waiting outside the stall.”

Courfeyrac shook his head in mild amusement and confusion. He flushed and went out, sparing a quick glance to the question-eager person. He washed his hands and gestured towards the stall. 

“There you go. All yours.” 

“Thank you! I’m Marius, hi!” He extended his hand and beamed at Courfeyrac. 

“Courfeyrac, hello.” Courfeyrac shook his hand. “I… need to go now. My friend is waiting for me.” 

“Of course, sorry to bother. Say hi to them from me?”

“You don’t even know him?”

“No, but a small act of kindness can go a long way.”

Courfeyrac smiled at that. “Sounds like something a friend of mine says a lot. I’ll say hi.”

“Thank you!” Marius furrowed his brows. “Wait, that wouldn’t constitute as first soulmate words, would it? Cause it’s not me saying it? But… I’m indirectly saying it…”

“He’s got his soulmate, don’t worry. Plus, he’s not that unlucky. He doesn’t have _hi_ tattooed on his body.”

“Luckily him! I do and it’s annoying, because so many people say it all the time! So many!” 

Courfeyrac hummed in acknowledgement. “I feel you. I’ve got it, too.” 

“I do hope you say something remarkable to your soulmate then, so she knows it’s you.”

“She? That’s very heteronormative,” Courfeyrac blurted out. 

“Oh, I…” Marius blushed furiously. “I only recently got into, like, queer stuff? It’s all very ingrained still, I am sorry for assuming. I’m gonna… just… sorry again.” 

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and retreated slowly until his back knocked into the toilet stall’s door. Marius laughed an awkward, high-pitched laugh and quickly disappeared inside the cubicle. Courfeyrac shook his head lightly to himself before he wandered out of the toilets to find Enjolras patiently waiting outside. 

“There you are.” Enjolras looked up from his phone. “I ordered us pizza, should be there half an hour after we get back home. Good to go?”

“Yeah. I just had the weirdest conversation in the restroom…”

“Who even has conversations there?”

“Fuck do I know. That guy Marius, apparently. He just… well I mean, to be fair, he asked me if I had hand sanitizer. Reasonable question. And then we talked about soulmate tattoos?” Courfeyrc shrugged his shoulders. “Super weird. Poor guy also has a _hi_ tattoo.”

“Well, it is a sensible response and a good starter when you meet someone at the first time.” Enjolras adjusted his scarf and rounded the corner to make his way to the metro station. “How weird would it be if he were your soulmate? You have the same words tattooed, though I know that that’s not how soulmate tattoos work. What did you say to him?”

“Oh my God.”

“Yeah okay, then you’re not… Courfeyrac?” Enjolras looked back, realising his friend had not followed him around the corner. He hurried back quickly. “What?”

“I… I did say hi. And he said hi. What if!”

“Well, hurry back now! Go on! Go back! Get his number!”

Courfeyrac laughed and quickly ran back into the pub. 

“Marius?” He called out, looking for the lanky man. He shouldn’t be too hard to find, not with his height and his shade of red – okay, it might be more auburn but it was curly and Courfeyrac had curly hair, he was always easily found by his friends. 

“Marius!” Courfeyrac had finally found him at the bar, downing a shot. 

He squeezed himself between Marius and his companion, beaming excitedly. “Hello!”

“Uhm… hello… restroom man? I forgot your name… I am drunk.”

“That’s okay! Just give me your phone number and we can chat tomorrow when you’re sober about how we might be soulmates!”

“Okay.” Marius pulled out his phone and handed it to Courfeyrac. “But only cause you’re cute.”

Courfeyrac blushed and typed in his number into Marius’ phone. “I sent myself a message so I got your number, okay?”

“Thank you, cute boy,” Marius slurred. “Sorry for being too hetero, I just realised I’m bi, thank you for being cute.”

“Aren’t you adorable?” Courfeyrac smiled softly. 

“I’ll take care of him,” the guy next to Courfeyrac said. “He was really embarrassed about the whole toilet thing and had two shots which is like… a lot for him. I’m Bossuet.”

“Courfeyrac, hello. Thanks for making sure he’s alright.”

“Well, a small act of kindness goes a long way, ‘s what my boyfriend always says.”

“I have a business card!” Marius suddenly said, pulling out a stack of pristine cards from his back pocket. 

He handed one to Courfeyrac, who took it with a thankful nod. “The card only says Marius in bold letters. Literally…”

“I ordered them…” Marius’ friend admitted sheepishly. “I sent them a mail saying they should print Marius in bold letters and then write Pontmercy smaller and I basically told them exactly what to do but… the mail didn’t go through properly…”

“Bossuet’s not so lucky,” Marius sing-sang, “except when it comes to banging! I think I gotta puke.”

“I’m gonna take him to the bathroom,” Bossuet laughed softly, steering Marius towards the restrooms again. 

In a silly fit of romantic feelings, Courfeyrac clutched the card to his chest and sighed deeply. Maybe his soulmate tattoos weren’t so dumb after all.


End file.
